Subject: Request for Consideration Regarding Licensing Fee Requirements

Dear Licensing Office / Virginia Department of Education,

I am writing on behalf of Chesterbrook Montessori School, a small, family-owned Montessori school in Arlington, Virginia, to request consideration regarding the application fee requirements under § 22.1-289.010 of the Code of Virginia and the regulations outlined in 8VAC20-821.

As a small school, we operate with limited resources and small class sizes. Meeting licensing requirements requires us to maintain several staff members in order to meet child-to-teacher ratios and safety regulations. While we fully support these standards, the combined costs of staffing, background checks, and licensing fees place a significant financial burden on a small program like ours.

We work hard to keep tuition reasonable for the families we serve, and additional regulatory costs make this increasingly difficult.

We respectfully ask that you consider the impact of these fees on small community-based schools such as ours and not implement these fees.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Judy Balcazar and Lisa Banowit
Head of School/Assistant Head of School

Chesterbrook Montessori School